Legal Blah: This blog is for historical research only, and is strictly non-commercial. All visual and audio material remains the property of the respective copyright owner, and no implication of ownership by me is intended or should be inferred. Any copyright owner who wants something removed should contact me and I will do so immediately. Alternatively, I would be delighted to provide a credit. The writing is by me, such as it is, unless otherwise stated, and this is the only Beatles related blog I am responsible for.

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Thursday, 23 May 2013

The caravan, or what's left of it, has resurfaced! Apparently, Ringo had it restored in the early 1980s (hence the different colours), and then took it with him when he moved, only to then leave it rotting in a garage.

Not a great deal remains of the woodwork.

The bits that are left have now been acquired by an Ascot charity, and are going to be sold to raise funds.

You can read the full story HERE, and see more photos HERE.
Thanks to Chris Sileo.

Sunday, 12 May 2013

Above, 2 fans just inside the gate at Kenwood, circa February 1967, courtesy of Lizzie Bravo.
Now, as ye are aware, this blog mainly concerns itself with rooting around in the muck, like an enormous sow, looking for remnants of a long vanished etc. And here's another one...
Watching Nick Cowburn's footage of Kennie from the late 90s, one bit caused a funereal bell to start tolling somewhere deep in my etc., namely, the bit of the "I LOVE" bit:

A couple of years back, I wrote about the old garden shed which once stood in the grounds, and included the following pic which I assumed showed a graffitied section of it:

I suddenly realised that this is what was causing bells to ring. Knock me down and hit me in the face with a shovel, if that isn't the very same graffito (grammar fans), all those years later, clearly not on the auld shed, but actually a part of the front gate:

It seems highly improbable that it would have survived for over 30 years (at the time Nick shot his footage), so a bit more comparison is called for. Note the relative positions of writing, and white object:

Again, using Lizzie's pic this time, compare white object and box:

Clearly the same location, and so, equally, clearly the same writing, which is banal but remarkable (possibly remarkably banal, I grant ye).
I'd guess the white object is a doorbell (or gatebell in this instance), and the box is obviously a letter box. The area underneath the graffito would have been a door (long gone by the 90s), which explains this pic of Julian, in full "Daddy says,'Fuck off'" mode:

The wooden gate slid across to close, as it is in the Julian pic; and the rear of the aforementioned door can be seen in Lizzie's photo, with the gate (obviously) open:

I promised ye flagrant trivia, and flagrant trivia is what ye shall have.
It's highly unlikely that anything now remains of the old gate, let alone the graffito, but back in the late 1990's, another tiny piece of John-era Kenwood endured.
Cheers Lizzie and Nick.

Saturday, 11 May 2013

Nick also got a few photos of Kinfauns, shortly before it was destroyed to make way for a carbuncle. Above, the drive (the only part that remains the same these days. The whole section of garden visible through the gate has been sold to allow construction of another new house).
Below, inside the gate, looking down towards t'bungalow:

To wit:

I wonder how long it took the owner after George to whitewash the walls. Though not often. Apparently, before moving to Friar Park, George offered to give Kinfauns to Pete Shotton, who said "Naaaah":

Some "new" footage of Kenwood (up the drive and back again), a smidgeon of Sunny Heights, and a bit of Kinfauns, very shortly before it was demolished. Oh and a few obligatory "then unt nau"s, plus more of John's Kennie attic mellotron meanderings for noise value (which, the attentive viewer will note, run out before the end, due to wanton "can't be arsed-ness" on my part).

All filming done late 1990s by Nick Cowburn, on good old VHS, and many thanks to him for agreeing to put it up here, as it were.

There has been a veritable glut o' Kenwood shiznit turning up of late, and let's add to that glut with these, taken circa 1998 by Nick Cowburn.
Above and below, so far, so familiar:

However, round the other side and the place is looking almost derelict. Note the boarded up windows, and unsightly pile of "stuff":

More unsightlitude, and the last stand of John's pool. Shortly after this, the whole thing was demolished to make way for...err...another pool facing in a different direction. Oh to have too much money:

Having said that, it does seem to have fallen into a state of some disrepair:

Then unt then:

Looking back towards the sunroom; a familiar spot for photographers down the years:

This bit entirely new, next to said sunroom:

And a final view, somewhat overgrown:

Many thanks to Nick for allowing these to be used here. He also got some photos of Kinfauns (also on its last legs at that point), plus some video footage, all of which shall go up immediately.
BY THE WAY - anyone else here in Blighty see Yoko on Jonathan Ross this evening? Fellow guest Vin Diesel seemed to say at one point that he was renting a house in St George's Hill "next to Yoko"...but I wasn't really paying attention, so maybe I misheard.

Thursday, 9 May 2013

The cover is oot! In related news, Amazon UK have cut the pre-order price on the standard edition, as expected, and it has also now appeared on the Amazon US site HERE.

Nice!

UPDATE: A heads up for US/Canadian readahs. It's been revealed that the massive "deluxe" edition is only being issued in the UK, for the time being at least, the US publisher having opted to issue the standard edition alone. There is no news about how limited the deluxe is (though it is limited), nor whether there is any likelihood of it ever being reprinted if/when it sells out. However, the tome has jumped to first place in the UK Amazon chart for Beatles-related books, presumably as readahs from across the "pond" get their pre-orders in to ensure obtaining a copy.
There's also no news about whether a non-English language deluxe edition is being published anywhere (I suppose Japan might be a possibility), but anyone prevaricating over splashing oot might do well to bear the above in mind.